Walking with Angels Cisa pass to Pontremoli

Last night we asked the waitress who speaks English and helped us make some reservations for three days ahead, what is a typical food if this region. Her answer was, Testaroli with pesto sauce. It is a corn base, fried and cut into pieces about an 1/8 inch thick. Was it ever good. The young lady pictured here behind the bar(her name sounds like Cynthia- try Jincythia) comes from the part of Italy near Nice, is how she put it. She says you must go and see Cinque Terre. Maybe not this time but we will come back and do it sometime. We mentioned to her about the heat and lo and behold the hot water registers got turned on. You won't get burned if you touch them but they are taking the crisp out of the air. She also gave us another blanket for the bed. We are over budget today but tomorrow will even it out. Dare I say the room is warm tonight, that is a first since we started in September. In the morning we had breakfast downstairs at our table. It was coffee, pound cake, fancy sweet thing, pre pkg toast.

It wasn't much. When Signora gave me the bill, she more than got her extra money for the room. She charged us tourist prices for the chips and tea as well as a few other things but we were in a bind so that's okay. Today our walk was quite arduous. We were off into the trails after 3 kilometres. We were up and down all day with the down being several hours and very hard on the knees with difficult footing on the old stone roads. We didn't run into any donkey's today but we did have twenty or so horses that were loose on the trail. We summitted again on the Corcetta pass after walking through forests on the old stone road with the Roman arch bridges. It is mushroom picking season here and this is the picture of the type of mushrooms they are picking. The deer hunters are out today being Saturday. Tonight we are staying in the castle in Pontremoli. It is in a dorm with the sheets and blankets with a heater. We also met Celine here. She is a pilgrim who started walking on August 7 from her home in the Nerthlands. She is in her early 20s I would say. She too is walking to Rome. One of these pictures is the view from our castle window. We are starting to see olive trees now which is new.

Walking with Angels. Costamezzana to Fornovo-di-Taro

Oh no, they're bringing another dish. What is that under their table? Ollie's bride brought out the fettuccine nicely dried and asked how much we wanted. The answer, grande. What we didn't know was how many dishes they were going to bring. First was a nice cold glass of beer. The first dish was a rice dish with chicken, then came the pasta with tomato sauce, then came the cold roast pork, then came the mushrooms, carrots and squash. By this time we are both in pain from over eating. Before going back to the icebox we have a quick game of crib. As we were leaving we noticed something under the next table and it is moving. Over to Ollie's at 7am for breakfast just as the rain started. We were on the road with our ponchos but the rain remained light. After awhile we took our ponchos off and walked in the mist. Then we were walking through a path where the soil had washed down from the rain. We were in deep mud and having to be careful it didn't knock us over when we walked. It built up under our shoes and on the end of the poles. What a mess. Our rain pants were all mud as well. After we were off the mud tracks we were up and down the hills. In one town we went in to the grocery and sat outside eating cherry tomatoes, cheese and crackers as the people walked by. In another town we passed a gelato shop and went in and had frozen yogurt that cheered us up. We were passing a corner about 4 kilometres from our destination, when we heard a shout. Someone with a pack on was pointing the other way and telling us to go the other way. When we got over there he said that the way he had just come from is better. We didn't get his name but we took his picture with Charlotte. He has started in 2012 from Santiago Spain and walked to Rome. Then he walked on to Jerusalem. Then he walked back to Rome and is on his way back to Santiago Spain. He looked about 150 pounds and his pack weighed 25 kilos. We had a stream or two to go over today but it went fairly well. When we arrived at our accomodation, we asked a female passing by about it and she pressed some buzzers and got the priest to come. He showed us to a dorm type room and went and gift yes sheets and blankets. We are waiting for Danielle to come. She is the woman we phoned the day before .We came across a mail box along the trail in the middle of nowhere. Charlotte opened up the door and there inside was a book where pilgrims passing by had signed, telling where they were from and the date. Our room in the old building was cold when we first got here but then the sun came out and we opened the windows to let some fresh air in. We played crib with the cards we bought from Ollie yesterday. The Signora who runs the drop in/ rec centre below, told us to come at 7pm for supper.

We showed up and she brought a jug of wine and a plate if gnocchi. It was good and we were hungry. We kept asking ourselves, she won't bring more of something when this is done. We didn't think so.

Then, out she came with a large plate of ham and fresco fromagio, sheep cheese and I don't know what all. Then came the plate of vegetables. Oh my, shades of last night. We are really full and when I go to pay, she says $24E. What a bargain. It is always good if we leave it up to them to cook the local specialities. Everyone here has made us feel very welcome and helped us.

We 

Walking with Angels. Cassio to Passo Cisa

LEvery day is an adventure all on its own. At 1:30pm today we arrived at Locanda Degli which is 2 kilometres past the Cisa pass. This is the name of a hote/restaurant 2 kilometres from Cisa pass. Andrea in Cassio had given us the name on a card as well as phoned them for us yesterday. We didn't know exactly what he was saying at the time. He had told us that we couldn't stay at the Ostello in Della Pisa. We were booked into there two days ago. When we walked by it today, it was closed. We don't know how he knew but he did. We have a nice matrimonial room with a queen bed for 50E including breakfast. Backing up to last night, there was a tremendous wind blowing during the night. We could hear the rain beating on the skylight. When we woke up in the morning we were alone in the large stone building. Andrea the owner just left us a key. We went downstairs in the morning to make breakfast as he said we could. We had never seen such a well stocked kitchen. There was every kind if juice, milk, bread, fruit etc. We put the kettle on for caffe with toast and cereal, so we were happy. He had sandwiches made so we each took a ham sandwich. In the middle of a pile of biscuits we found a donation jar. You can see by the pictures of the table settings, he meant it when he said make yourself at home. There was a complete bar with every kind of liquor. Everything was on the honour system. How could you ever not pay for anything you took. At 7:45am we left following the VF indicators up and over the hills, sometimes coming back to the road that twisted and turned along the mountain. As we walked along we had no idea what Andrea had written on the paper other than it was 2kilometres past where we were originally booked. About 11:30am we came to the Cisa summit. There was a fantastic old stone church with such a unique structure inside, stain glass windows surrounding the outside and hand carved seating in the naves. The sanctuary had individual chairs with a dome ceiling above the altar. With the elaborate staircase leading up to the church it all added to the overall impact in such grand setting on top of the pass. We were very fortunate to be there on a clear day. We showed the card that Andrea had given us to a lady in the tabac and she indicated 2 kilometres down the road, and here we are. The room is very clean and so are the sheets, all a good sign. Earlier in the day when Charlotte was leading the way, she turned around and said, there is a donkey on the path. When we got up there, it was four of them and they followed behind us up to the style. The rain last night made going up and down the stone paths difficult and slippery. The trekking poles have saved us more than once, especially when the going down the steep slopes.

Walking with Angels Fornovo di Taro to Cassio

An uncertain day turned into a really good day. There were many uncertainties but they all turned out very well. I listen to the same music every night on my iPod to put me to sleep, Beth Nielsen Chapman

Hymns. It is such a good cd. Charlotte wants another chapter or two of the iBook, My Storey. I have to admit it is a captivating read. We both wear our Petzl lights around our necks at neck at night so if we ever have to get up, we can see where we are going. Daniella's sister(we never did see Daniella) made such a good meal for us last night. At 7am we were ready to go but Signora said she would open the cafe at. 7am. We waited awhile and then left following the VF indicators which are pretty much the red and white stripes. It was well marked the whole day. It was continually up leaving the city and although there were a few flat spots, we knew that since we are crossing the Cisa pass with a 4000 foot altitude change, it would be up most of the way. We were on the tarmac a good percentage of the way when all at once there was a change in direction up a clay/gravel track. The sun had been out earlier but now the wind was colder with dark clouds threatening. We had our heads down grinding out the kilometres before it might rain. Up and up we went. Sometimes we didnt realize how far we had come up until we looked back. Once in awhile there were trail markers but we really didn't know how much farther we had to go to get to our destination Cassio. Every time we thought that maybe we were at the top, the trail would start up the mountain again. For the first time since we started four weeks ago, I heard a grumble from Charlotte. "This is worse than Grand St. Bernard". After 5 1/2 hours we broke through onto a tarmac road with VF indicators. Down we went for a couple hundred metres and then the trail went into the bush again. We followed it until it seemed to be working its way back to where we had come. No way, back to the Tarmac road and followed it down the hill. Looking out over the valley from the road, you could tell we were 4000 thousand feet up and it was straight down from the side of the road. Down the road we walked not knowing what we were going to come to. After. About a kilometre we rounded a corner and there was the sign saying Cassio. Neither one of us could believe it, but we had arrived where we were supposed to at 1pm. Where on earth that trail we were following led to, we have no idea. After a beer and spaghetti dinner we are in the Ostello where we have a double bed and lots of blankets. The wind has been strong and cold all the time we were climbing and it is still blowing hard here this evening. Our room is like an ice box. We play crib in the bar because it has heat. Charlotte always wins

Walking with Angels. Fidenza to Costamezzana

OOpened the shutters and it isn't raining, this is good. Insoles are dry and so is the inside of the boots. The boots on the outside are still soaked. Oh well. Charlottes are dry, the one never being wet inside. A real nice easy walking day through the rolling hills. Nice green fields with all the crops taken off. The crops are more forage although there are no animals to be seen. Apparently the dairy cows are kept in barns rather than in the fields like France and Switzerland. We arrived in Costamezzana at 11:30am or so and went to the bar. Our very friendly owner Oliver made us welcome and we had a sandwich and caffe while waiting for the Ostello guy to show up and let us in. We signed in to Oliver's guest book and our accommodation guy is going over our passports. Every place has to see our passports to get the info off or to take a photo of, for the legal part. Next we were asked to follow the accomodation guy across the road to his house. There we met Signora who is definitely the brains of the outfit. She went through the forms again, not unlike when you cross the border into another country. In no time she had us in stitches with her no nonsense demeanour. We check out the church but it is locked, not unlike others unfortunately. Back to Oilver's place for vino blanco and wifi, perhaps even a game of cards. We are playing Intaliano, sitting in the bar sipping wine and enjoying the atmosphere. Ciao(see you later in Canadian) people come and go, having a caffe, greeting each other. I think Oliver has a wealth of local info on most people around these parts. The conversation can get louder as more people come in. I notice it is the men mostly who patrinage the bar. The universal dress code being blue jeans. Sometimes women come in to purchase a lotto ticket but mostly men. A couple of one arm bandits( flashing lights slot machines). Once in a while someone puts a coin in them. Second glass of vino blanco, starting to remind me of Saturday afternoon bar days many moons ago. Back to our humble abode. These albergues as we call them, cold, no heat, sometimes damp, although clean, 13E each, give time for reflection. In Oliver's I downloaded a book from ITunes, the story of the kidnapping in Salt Lake City of 

Elizabeth Smart called, My Story. So now Charlotte likes me to read it out loud to her. I suppose in a way it is like one of those audio books. It is not easy to read about a person so evil and manipulative who preys on children. I don't know really why we chose this particular book, but we did. Perhaps we can handle it in small doses. This cold in this place goes right to your bones. We will be beating it back to Ollie's pretty soon, but no more of that yummy white wine or we will be needing another nap. The pictures are a little out of order because I used the iPad to snap the one in Ollie's place. The last picture is of the church here in Costamezzana, too bad it wasn't open. It has a very grand look to it with the dual staircase on either side of the figures depicting a biblical story and a stone cairn listing the names of those who died from here during the Second World War. It all has a very symmetrical look to it. The architect would have had that vision in his mind when he was designing it. I could go see the Signora who signed us in, she would know who to see to open the church up, in fact she might even have the key. Walked in to Ollie's and he showed us his freshly drying pasta and he is going to make us some with tomatoes.